want to become a press photographer?

minikin

...better start studying journalism!

Title: Battle lines drawn at NUJ
Date: 8 August 2007



Photographers from the National Union of Journalists claim that their union has deserted them after penning a controversial agreement in Ireland that endorses reporters carrying cameras.

The house agreement at the Drogheda Independent, a weekly title in east Ireland, is yet to be accepted but has divided the union and sparked angry online debates, with some photographers threatening to leave the union in protest.

They claim the agreement at the title, which is owned by Independent News & Media, Ireland's largest newspaper group, threatens the future of press photography as it will allow the paper to train reporters to use cameras thereby putting photographers out of work.

Negotiating table
The agreement came about after six months of negotiations led by Des Fagan, the NUJ Irish organiser, and Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary, who is also number three in the NUJ pecking order.

The need for a new house agreement was driven by the publisher's decision to withdraw from the national negotiation body for regional newspapers in Ireland, which the 23 staff members of the Drogheda Independent Chapel believed would have a negative impact on their ongoing campaign for improved terms and conditions.

The agreement does offer improved pay and better working conditions, including flexible hours and maternity leave benefits for the Drogheda Independent staff. However, it is said to be the first in Union history that officially supports reporters carrying cameras. Photographers claim this goes against a former NUJ rule that, 'A member who is a staff reporter shall not normally take photographs ... (and) Freelance reporters shall not take photographs ... if by so doing they deprive another freelance of income'. This rule was removed after the Union's Annual Delegates Meeting earlier this year.

The agreement was accepted by the Drogheda Independent Chapel by 20 votes to two, claims the NUJ, but remains unratified. Editorial Photographers UK (EPUK), which has been vociferous in its attack of the NUJ, relates that the NUJ's Irish Executive Committee (IEC) has referred the decision to accept or reject the agreement to the Union's National Executive Committee, but added the recommendation that it should not go through in its present form.

Battle lines
However, those behind the agreement seem confident it will go through and claim that reporters carrying cameras is simply a sign of the times. Dooley told EPUK: 'We cannot ignore the reality that change is happening all around us - in all areas of journalism', and likened the plight of the critics to 'trying to protect virginity long after it's been soiled'. However, this was countered by IEC member Norma Prendiville, who claims that the Limerick Leader, when faced with an identical demand from its management, refused. She wrote in an open letter, '... we were put under pressure to accept that reporters would carry cameras for certain kinds of shots ... We said it would be a deal-breaker if they tried to persist and we went all the way to mediation and then voted against the proposed agreement ... We got our new house agreement, having secured a better rate than that offered to the Drogheda Independent but crucially without reporters having to concede cameras'.

Far reaching consequences?
While EPUK recognises that picture-taking reporters do exist, it contends that it is the fact that the NUJ has 'rubber-stamped' this agreement that is the issue, and its ramifications for other titles. A comment on the EPUK website states: 'It is simply inevitable that the owners of the Drogheda Independent will want to extend the deal they've struck throughout their 165 titles ... Needless to say though it won't stop at the Independent title: why should it? Other publishers will seek the same working arrangements, and the NUJ will be happy to help them dispense with photographers' services ...'.

However, writing to BJP, NUJ deputy general secretary John Fray, said that this will not be the case. 'There is no reason why the agreement should have massive effects across the press photography industry. This is not some sort of master plan to eliminate professional photography'. He added that the Drogheda agreement includes the setting up of a working party that will marshal the implementation of the new agreement.

The newspaper's human resources director, Declan Carlyle added that the deal will not affect any staff photographers, because the title does not have any, nor will it impact professional photographers that are currently brought in. He wrote in a letter to Seamus Dooley: 'The Drogheda Independent recognises that professional photography will continue to play an important part in the content of its publications, but not in every image that is published. However, it is not proposed to simply hand out digital cameras to all staff.'

Future hanging in the balance
However, one of the four contract photographers at the title remains unconvinced by the promises being made. Sinead Sarsfield claims she makes more than 90% of her income from the title. She was not aware of the negotiations until a chance conversation with a colleague. She told The Guardian media columnist, Roy Greenslade: 'If this agreement goes through, it's the beginning of the end for photojournalists. It's already a very sad state of affairs when so few papers in the world actually give proper space to photographs ... Are we now to lose jobs to reporters who are unskilled and uninterested in the quality of a photograph?' She adds that she will leave her job if the agreement goes through, despite the NUJ promise that her contract will not be affected.

A meeting of the NUJ's National Executive Committee is scheduled for 21 September and the Drogheda Agreement is expected to be on the agenda.

Borderfox

Bad news, I thought this rule was written in stone.

Eirebear

way ahead of this one...i hope, ive just started a photojournalism course with the hope of taking my nctj exams (uk) in may.

mathias

Still , i wouldnt imagine it would be the photographers worried about losing their jobs , more likely its the reporter , its quicker to train a photographer in the language of the press than to train a hack to take photos surely !

Eirebear

mathias wrote:

Still , i wouldnt imagine it would be the photographers worried about losing their jobs , more likely its the reporter , its quicker to train a photographer in the language of the press than to train a hack to take photos surely !

Yep, id probably agree with that to an extent.
But i'd say this is more at a local level rather than a national level were the photos taken are generally groups of people recieving cheques etc etc.
I was working (not anymore, long story) for a local paper were i was employed as a writer, but they soon discovered i could handle a camera competently enough to do this and was soon told that everything i give them "must be accompanied by a picture"...this then led to me doing pages of "social events" (basically people in the pub, which litterally required nothing but a trusty P&S and a bit of chat) to the one good thing that came out of it sports writing/photography.

I sure as hell wasnt getting payed for both jobs, i sure as hell wasnt getting payed enough for one!

magicbastarder

while i can understand that people might be pissed off, there's no natural law stating that journalists should not carry a camera. i don't see it as a big issue.

Covey

"The agreement does offer improved pay and better working conditions, including flexible hours and maternity leave benefits for the Drogheda Independent staff."

Sound like they weren't operating within the law even. Maybe not the ideal place to work in the first instance.

BTW, this is now commenplace in the US local papers.

T.

minikin

while i can understand that people might be pissed off, there's no natural law stating that journalists should not carry a camera. i don't see it as a big issue.

maybe you would if you were earning your living as a press photographer on a local rag? This is part of the dumbdownification (i loves irony) of photography.... sure anyone can do it... another sad aspect of this is that clients here have started submitting camera phone images in place of proper product shots - then wonder why their brochure looks crap

magicbastarder

of course i'd be pissed off. that says nothing about whether the concept of a photographer who is able to write is a bad idea.

Calina

and on that note, have a look at this.

Eirebear

magicbastarder wrote:

of course i'd be pissed off. that says nothing about whether the concept of a photographer who is able to write is a bad idea.

no, and i count being able to do both as a fairly valuable skill....i think thimblefull and possibly City exile write as well as photograph sports?...but i think its more the case of stopping editors and managers taking the piss and paying people for one job when theyre doing two.

magicbastarder

i've a mate who's a professional photographer, works mainly in travel. there's not enough work in ireland for him to depend on photography alone, so he writes too, and often (though not always) provides all copy for travel articles. if he was prevented from one of the income sources, he'd probably have to find a different profession.

Eirebear

magicbastarder wrote:

i've a mate who's a professional photographer, works mainly in travel. there's not enough work in ireland for him to depend on photography alone, so he writes too, and often (though not always) provides all copy for travel articles. if he was prevented from one of the income sources, he'd probably have to find a different profession.

There is always going to be space for free lance writers, but take a look around you at the moment, its people like your mate that are getting the raw deal at the moment, and this should hopefully protect.

Switch on sky news, youll see them telling anyone with "a story" a camera phone image, a camera phone video, a digital image to send it in to them.
Switch on the Irish, or BBC news at 6 and youll see the same thing.
Open up a newspaper, youll see the same thing.

This is where freelance photographers and writers are getting the raw deal, and hopefully by recognising this we can stop the press using joe public to fill space with crap low res images and actually win back some respect from the media.

minikin

magicbast, i think you're getting confused here... this is about the protection of peoples livlihoods in the newspaper industry, the ability of both photographers and journalists to earn a living.

The issue here is not preventing photographers writting. It's about doing awat with photographers totally and requiring the journo hacks to take snaps.

magicbastarder

i don't think stopping this is going to end the dumbing down of photojournalism.
the news networks like phone camera imagery; it saves them money, and can be sold under the populist banner of 'NEWS BY YOU'. that'll continue. you could argue by at least having trained your journalists in how to use a camera, it'll rescue us to a certain extent from this sort of behaviour.

are there jobs threatened in drogheda, btw? are they planning on laying off staff photographers as soon as the journalists are trained up?
or do they use contract photographers?

minikin

all contracted photographers... so they'll basically get screwed

magicbastarder

i could be callous and say "well, that's the nature of contract work".

i'm playing devil's advocate here to a certain extent, btw.

minikin

it's sad is all... i know one of the snappers, been doing it for the last twenty years. He's now going to be replaced by a motorola krazr or something. Just think it's a sad day for photography is all. Allowing journos to replace photographers is a step towards them robbing your pictures from flickr, not away from it.

nilhg

My eldest (just done her LC) does a few match reports for some of the locals, she started off sending in reports on the school teams because one of the teachers asked her to do it, now they pester her any busy weekend, what they give her would hardly cover the petrol to get there and they refuse to pay if she does a report on the local club. I wouldn't like to be depending on them for any significant part of my income.

TBH I think they are scared s***less of a slowdown in the property market, they have been rolling it in over the last few years.

magicbastarder

why would they be that badly effected by the property market?

nilhg

magicbastarder wrote:

why would they be that badly effected by the property market?

40 page property supplements full of megabucks ads every week for the last few years, not as common now though.

puss

Aren't the photographers and journalists in the NUJ. If they respect each others work shouldn't the journalists refuse to take photos and that way they would be supporting the photographers.

minikin

that's the theory but the hacks are being bunged an extra €6k so all solidarity goes out the window

Spyral

er but if they are breachign the guidelines then innit illegal. or am i just being idealistic in a world where we have oxymorons like 'American justice', 'British education' and 'Irish government' ?

rahtkennades

Spyral wrote:

er but if they are breachign the guidelines then innit illegal. or am i just being idealistic in a world where we have oxymorons like 'American justice', 'British education' and 'Irish government' ?

I'd say that's exactly it. It's not illegal for a journo to take pictures, or for a photographer to report on events.

Generally a union might prefer that two separate skilled trades do their own work (division of labour), but since it seems the NUJ have decided to abandon that principle (according to the blog link Calina posted above), then there's 'nothing wrong' with it.